App Store Survey Results

Results #1: How You Find Apps

The short version: OK, I’m surprised.

The longer version follows. In case you missed it, last week we posted a survey about how people use the iTunes App Store.

First, a few disclaimers. I doubt this is really a representative group. Or a big enough group to make the responses statistically believeable. My questions weren’t written or organized in such a way that we probably got the best information. You’re welcome to use the information, but it’s at your own risk.

So, with that out of the way, here are some results. I’m going to split these up over a few days, so any given post isn’t too long.

Starting with what was most interesting – and surprising – to me: how you find apps. From the 200+ people who responded:

85% said yes, you do look outside iTunes to find, or find out about, available apps. Only about 12% said no to that one. (Click on the graphs to see the bigger versions.)

 

On the question of how you find new apps, the response was very spread out (and yes, people were allowed to pick more than one option). But the most popular answer – from websites outside iTunes – got under 20%. Ads got least votes: just about 1%. Don’t tell Apple; I love seeing the App Store ads on TV, even though they don’t feature our stuff (I’d go through the ceiling if they did). Power Search, the second lowest response, got just over 3%. Here are the details:

 

The “other” responses included magazines, RSS feeds, specific site names, and “It’s so un-organized you cant find apps!”. It’s true. I’m hoping to write more about finding apps in the store soon.

And finally (in the Find apps questions), when asked whether you ever go to an app developer’s site, over 87% of you said yes! Only 10% said no. OK, time to work on our site.

 

I’ll write about what the rest of the answers were later in the week, as well as some commentary and of course the prize giveaways. Meanwhile, the survey is still open, so if you haven’t taken it yet, please do! This is really an eye-opener for me. And I’m happy to keep posting results, and giving away prizes, as long as more people respond.

And, before I forget, many thanks to everyone who participated, and who posted about the survey.